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mnkykungfu said:Five Came Back (2017)
Documentaries can sometimes seem boring, especially ones that use a lot of really old film footage. This one does a great job painting amazing yet identifiable portraits of these five famous directors. What puts it over the top for me is the setup of having 5 modern directors give their insight covering each of the Golden Age directors. For film fans, it's simply a must-see. Full review: https://letterboxd.com/nottheacademy/film/five-came-back-2017/
^ Such an amazing doc. Did you know that Netflix also uploaded some of the wartime shorts featured in FCB when the doc was released?
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
I've watched a few modern Hollywood/Disney animated kids films in recent months, huge thudding CGI "epics", overstuffed with lame humour, messy plots, irritating wisecracking pandering characters and exhausting battle sequences. So this gentle, charming, bucolic and delightfully unhurried 1980s Hayao Miyazaki film was a real tonic. Miyazaki's idea of exciting is occasionally moving the camera! The story of a family in difficulty due the absence of a sick mother and their move to a new rural house is never overplayed. Daughters Satsuki and Mei find comfort in encounters with a rotund mute forest spirit named Totoro and his friends. Totoro's soft fur, sleepy demeanor and contended purring will be familiar to owners of chilled-out cats. Joe Hisaishi's music reminded me of Cliff Richard's 'Summer Holiday'... no bad thing. I applaud Netflix for uploading all these Ghibli movies in pristine HD transfers with a large range of audio languages and well written subtitles (I went for the original Japanese soundtrack).